West Indies tri-series 2013: Five reasons why India lost against Sri Lanka

3. Toothless bowling

One wonders why India fielded the same XI that played in the Champions Trophy fixtures in the first match against the West Indies and made radical changes to the side in the next game. Probably they backed themselves to grab a win against the West Indies in the first match with a full strength side but that plan failed.

They introduced Shami Ahmed into the side in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar while Murali Vijay came in place of injured MS Dhoni. Without the early breakthroughs that Kumar consistently delivered for India, the bowling attack looked toothless. Umesh Yadav loses his composure when he is taken for runs and Shami Ahmed relies excessively on his pace.

The wickets did not offer much, but that was not excuse enough for the performance they delivered. It did not help that India’s fielding was miserable.